New York Legislature Approves Energy Storage Bill

The New York state legislature recently approved a bill to establish an Energy Storage Deployment Program for the Empire State. The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Senator Joseph Griffo, passed both chambers of the legislature unanimously and now goes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., for his action.

According to the Energy Storage Association (ESA), the bill will direct the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to develop an Energy Storage Deployment Program, including a storage procurement target for 2030. The ESA says doing so will start a deliberative process by which the PSC can determine what is appropriate for New York with input from utilities, customers and other stakeholders, and a long-term, binding storage procurement target will provide a steady commitment to deploy energy storage in the state.

“New York continues to be a hub for energy innovation and is a model for leveraging effective policy and market structures to advance practical solutions,” says Matt Roberts, executive director of the ESA. “It is critical that Governor Cuomo signs this unanimously passed legislation and reaffirms the state’s commitment to addressing costly peak demand and integrating more sustainable energy. This legislation will bring significant benefits to New York ratepayers, improve system reliability, lower energy costs, and enable the increased deployment of sustainable energy.”

Roberts notes, “The state is already home to more than 3,900 energy storage sector jobs, surging more than 30 percent in the last four years. Energy storage is key to New York’s advanced energy economy, and this legislation will propel further economic growth for the state.”

Dr. William Acker, executive director of the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST), comments, “NY-BEST and our members in the energy storage industry are extremely grateful to Senator Griffo and Assemblywoman Paulin for their leadership and to the entire New York state legislature for their strong support of energy storage, as evidenced by the legislature’s unanimous passage of this bill.”

According to NY-BEST, the energy storage legislation aligns with New York’s 50% by 2030 clean energy standard and its Reforming the Energy Vision.

“Expanding energy storage is critical for New York to meet its goals by enabling renewable energy to be used continuously, reducing the need for energy produced using fossil fuels,” explains Assemblywoman Paulin in statement. “Storage also increases the resiliency of the electric grid by supplying power in the event of an electrical outage. The creation of an energy storage deployment program will increase the installation of energy storage systems throughout the state and accelerate these benefits.”